Apollo's Child

Nebelung Cat-

A nebelung cat patronus appears for witches and wizards of amazing souls. They are very friendly and are high achievers. These witches and wizards always strive to be better than they were yesterday and challenge others to do the same. For them you can never stop learning, helping, teaching, or seeing new things. They are loyal and hard working individuals.

The patronus of a nebelung cat symbolizes curiosity and kindness. One would never expect from the sweet mild mannered caster that they are fairly competitive. They are fond of friendly competition and up for a good challenge. These good-natured witches and wizards love to include others and work well in group environments. They make excellent friends and are wonderful support to the ones they love.

“Beautiful, graceful, and flowing.” Soft, silky blue-grey fur is laced with silver. They are playful, good-natured, and though they may be mild, they are extremely intelligent. They tend to bond with select few people and keep a tight relationship their whole life, but that being said, … you follow your own code and you are individualistic to the extent that you don’t need anyone else to tell you how to live your life. The nice thing is, however, that you don’t see the need to be vocally rebellious in order to rebel – you are quiet and resilient in your approach, dismantling expectations and boundaries keeping you from your goals with slow, steady precision. You’re in no hurry – after all, you certainly won’t give up until you get what you want, and those less patient and determined than you will drop like flies, leaving you to claim the prize. You also likely keep your personal ambitions and feelings close to the chest and put off an air of mystery …

You prefer to know everything about a situation, and you don’t like it when something is new or surprising (like a stranger). You are strongest when you are in a place or with people that you love and understand, and you stick with them until the end. … You are introverted and like to keep to your own group of friends. It’s always quality over quantity. You face every day with quiet determination, and won’t shy away from trying new things. You tend to like quieter people that you can connect with more. 

When she's falling and breaking and literally coming down, Casitas only priority besides helping Mirabel get the candle is protecting the Madrigals from harm. It softens Camilo and Isabela's falls before throwing them all out and letting the damage come down in front of the door so they can't come back in. 100%, I believe that it purposely weakened the wall Bruno smashes through so he could escape, wanting every single Madrigal to be safe. She knows that Mirabel wants the candle for a good reason, but the moment she has it, Casita immediately rushes to shield Mirabel from harm. If things started to go south before Mirabel could grab the candle, there is no doubt that Casita would have forced her to leave it and thrown her out to protect her even if the complete loss of it meant that Casita really could never return. AND THEN, in its actual final moments, Casita fucking waves goodbye to Mirabel and the other Madrigals.

Casita falling apart doesn't just feel like a house coming down, you really are watching another living member of the Madrigal family crumble down to nothing but broken bricks and chips of plaster. It feels so incredibly real and you get to panic for Casita as well as the Madrigals because you aren't just watching a house fall, you're watching another living being straight up die. She not only dies, but she uses the very last bit of her strength to say GOODBYE before she does and it makes me bawl my eyes out

God and when it comes back and she's so incredibly happy. She's singing! She's making music! She's pulling her family back inside as fast as it can and celebrating alongside them!! It missed them. Casita even sets up the photo to be taken and includes itself in it!! She's so fucking happy to be back and for everyone to be home and it's so CUTE, Casita is so precious to me

Thinking about how the first cracks appear when Mirabel feels ostracized from her family and is about to break under the pressure of feeling wanting and invisible and alone.

Thinking about how the thing Mirabel does for Luisa is listen to her and just say “you are carrying way too much” and then when Luisa’s powers begin to malfunction it isn’t because of her but because Luisa dared slow down a little and was IMMEDIATELY hit with crushing guilt and tried once again to overcompensate it and THAT is when her strength failed her.

Thinking about how Bruno left in an attempt to keep the family from fracturing and was literally trying to fix the cracks with his absence, but it was Mirabel SHARING a vision with him which actually helped him find a positive outcome for a vision because he wasn’t alone with that burden and his anxiety and she led him to a happier perspective.

Thinking about how the real healing moment between Isabela and Mirabel isn’t Isa’s confession really, the turning point is when Mirabel actually stops and LISTENS and simply acknowledges that her sister is struggling and goes on to loudly support and encourage her to find and be herself.

Thinking about all the other cracks we didn’t entirely see. Antonio’s pressure to not be “another disappointment” to his family but obvious guilt that Mirabel didn’t get to shine. Camilo’s consistent changes for the sake of others, but when he starts to malfunction he’s a grown man with a baby’s head, because maybe that’s how he feels, lost and not quite either. Thinking about Pepa, unable to feel any negative emotions, to the point of absolute repression because every single anger or sadness is an open nerve for the world to see and “Pepa, stop! Not again!” Thinking about Julieta’s role as a consistent care taker in a family that even with their powers gone yells for her when in panic because she Must Know how to fix it. Thinking about Dolores so overwhelmed and tense and overlooked, whose great romantic ideal is someone finally SEEING her.

And the cracks showed up whenever the pressure was too much. Whenever Abuela was too afraid and protective and holding on to her control so tightly, marked by the trauma and fear of losing them, to the point where she couldn’t take anything or anyone being out of her control (an obvious PTSD thing).

The family was cracking because Abuela lost sight of the family as people vs the family as a well oiled machine. And while it was obviously due to generational trauma, it was also an issue that no one else in the family could see because it was the dynamic they grew up in and accepted as right and healthy. It was only Mirabel, blessed with an “outsider” perspective, who could see the way the pressure was mounting on everyone’s shoulders and who (having no expectations at all put on her by dismissal) could dare to break the cycle and speak up, not only for herself but for others.

During Dos Orugitas, we see a young Alma Madrigal that seemed to be cheerful, playful and even a little clumsy. The braided hair, the frilly dress and the big smiles help create an image of her as a sweet, carefree young woman who was not afraid to just be herself.

Once the tragedy with Pedro happens and the miracle is born, Alma immediately takes shelter in casita and we see her alone, silently processing the events of the evening; looking extremely weary, lonely and traumatised. She looks down at her babies. Her Julieta, her Pepa and her Brunito, and her expression changes. She knows she needs to be strong for them. She’s resolute, but there’s a sadness in her eyes that says she knows what this means for her, too. She can never go back to the woman she used to be.

The next time we see Alma, she is putting on a black cloak and leaving the room. This room was the cocoon where she transformed into a new person, leaving her old self behind. She’s become different. Her smile doesn’t quite meet her eyes anymore. She looks tired, somber. Older, even.

There’s a shadow, a trauma she’s carrying that soon takes form in the perfectionism and control that eventually hurt her loved ones. This event shapes the way she deals with challenges from this moment on, and she is always in fear of the family losing their home once again.

She became harsh. Strict. Everything has to be perfect in order to protect and earn the miracle the love of her life granted their family with his noble sacrifice.

This is an incredibly strong woman who has been through hell and came out alive, for her family’s sake. This black cloak follows her from her young years to her old age, and becomes a constant throughout the movie. It represents the weight and the burden of the grief she silently carried ever since that moment, and will continue to carry for the rest of her life. It represents the change she had to go through, putting her emotions last in order to become the strong matriarch her kids and the village needed. It represents the loss of not only her beloved Pedro, but also of her innocence, her youth, her laughter and her smile.

From the moment young Alma Madrigal and her children were gifted a miracle, she became the one responsible for the whole village. She, as the only one blessed with the magic and the one whose gift repelled the enemies, was naturally placed in a position of power and leadership in the worst moment of her life.

It’s likely she was the one everyone immediately looked to for directions right after the miracle happened, and that she had to leave her feelings behind to help other lost and grieving people rebuild their lives and their homes, creating what the village of Encanto eventually became. She put everyone else first. She was extremely selfless.